Judicial Government Education Funding Extortion Marches On

In New Jersey, the State Supreme Court is once again, as has been the norm since 1972, ordering more spending on government schools.

The first case, Robinson v. Cahill 1972, opened Pandora’s Spending Box for schools – without any requirements to measure “progress.” But when Progress is measured by increased spending and removing away local control you could say the progressives won hands down.

“Therefore, relying on local property taxes to fund schools is unconstitutional and adequate funding, including compensatory services for disadvantaged students in New Jersey’s poorest 29 districts, “must be guaranteed and mandated by the State.” (Those 29 districts were called “Abbott districts” because the first name on the alphabetical list of plaintiffs was Raymond Abbott, a 12-year-old student from Camden. Two districts were added later.)”

Educators and officials told a special joint panel of lawmakers that New Jersey’s current school aid formula hurts students and burdens taxpayers because it doesn’t permit funding increases for growing towns like Chesterfield. Council member Andrea Katz says, it gets only 11 percent of the aid it should receive.”

The first education funding scam was instrumental in the creation of the 1978 New Jersey State Income Tax. This income tax was the panacea for education spending in government schools – which are still without court ordered increased educational results, for some reason.

January 2017 in New Jersey brings in a new year and the same old problem. Money shoveled into government schools by courts does not guarantee success – it just feeds the addiction. But we knew that then and we know that now. Extortion by courts is just a bit easier to swallow than a regular mobster selling fire insurance to a donut shop.

Kansas is in the same predicament. Their State Supra just ordered more state spending on government schools. That fact is lost in the news articles about the Kansas Legislature breaking with Governor Brownback’s tax cutting agenda. The progressives need a win against the idea of small government and Kansas is a fine target. Oh, and that education funding lawsuit in Kansas started with the election of Governor Brownback. If you follow these education funding cases you will find the often coincide with the election of a Republican Governor. The Rell case in Ct. has lingered on for over a decade. Governor Mike Huckabee was hit with one as soon as he took office in Arkansas. It is a tradition of the progressive school spending industry.

Now that we have a Republican Governor in NH it should be interesting to see when a new Claremont Case erupts.